Nanotechnology is about exploring and implementing the ultimate methods for arranging the atoms in the world around us to suit our purposes. But atoms and all forms of visible matter make up only 4% of the universe, the remainder being dark matter and dark energy. In honor of today’s announcement of the discovery of a Higgs-like scalar boson … , which may lead to new, deeper understanding of the rest of the universe, I cannot resist pointing to this new nanotechnology-based device that may prove useful in detecting dark matter. …

Back in 1992, in chapter 15 of Nanosystems, Eric Drexler suggested that it would be easier to design proteins that fold predictably, an important step on the road to advanced nanotechnology (or molecular manufacturing, or atomically precise manufacturing) if additional amino acids beyond the 20 that are genetically coded could be incorporated into proteins. Chemical synthesis of peptides has provided a way to accomplish this for small amounts of short proteins, but to obtain large amounts of long proteins, it would be very convenient to expand the genetic alphabet to encode additional amino acids. …

Near-term nanotechnology will not only enrich medicine with new cures, but will contribute to greatly improving existing procedures. For example, a new nanomaterial has improved the sensitivity of a common medical test three million times. …

As nanotechnologists work to build ever more complex nanostructures, working toward complex atomically precise nanostructures, it will become increasingly useful for them to be able to see just what they are building. A new tomographic reconstruction method with scanning transmission electron microscopy delivers 3D images of individual atoms within regions of irregular nanoparticles. …

To engineer proteins for use in molecular machine systems leading to advanced nanotechnology, it would be useful to know some of the transient structures through which the protein folds on its journey from a linear chain of amino acid residues to a compact, functional nanomachine. …

An advance in protein engineering targeted to better drug delivery methods or artificial vaccines is also an important step toward a general capability to build nanostructures by assembling designed protein domains in a designed rigid configuration. …

Foresight Events and News

The 2013 Foresight Technical Conference
Illuminating Atomic Precision

January 11-13, 2013
Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel, Palo Alto, CA USA

Over 30 speakers will present reviews and research on a wide variety of groundbreaking atomic- and molecular-scale science and technology, interesting intrinsically and for aiding the development of atomically precise technologies, devices and materials. Events will include an opening reception with a special panel discussion on Friday night and the Feynman Prize Awards Banquet on Saturday night.

Foresight is launching an exciting new youth outreach program! We are targeting the top science, engineering, and entrepreneurially-oriented college clubs and gifted youth programs in the nation and sending out 300 sets of inspiring books on emerging technologies. Students will be incentivized to read, reflect, and contact us with their thoughts by entering our fall 2012 essay contest. Bookmarks and inserts will include information on the contest, our mission, as well as information on partner organizations such as SENS, Humanity+, and the Thiel Foundation's 20Under20 program.

Foresight is in the process of choosing books on nanotechnology to distribute in the program. If you'd like to vote on which book, please weigh in on our Facebook page. (Log into Facebook to vote). In addition, copies of Sonia Arrison's 100+, Aubrey de Grey's Ending Aging, and Peter Diamandis' Abundance have already been donated, and we are also working on securing copies of Ray Kurzweil's Singularity Is Near, and possibly Nick Bostrom's Global Catastrophic Risk.

If you are interested in volunteering, please attend the coordination meeting:

If you would like to contribute to this program please get in touch with Foresight at the contacts listed below.

Bay Area Dinner Lectures Resume Fall 2013

Foresight had some great dinner lectures this spring from speakers such as 100+ author Sonia Arrison and Harvard Fellow/MIT Media Lab Affiliate Alex Wissner-Gross. We will be taking a break this summer; but, we will resume in the Fall.

Other Upcoming Activities of Interest

A future issue of Update will report on the No MOS initiative workshop held last month at NIST and on the FNANO conference held this Spring at Snowbird.

Foresight's Director of Development and Outreach Desiree D. Dudley will speak on a panel at the Space Frontier Foundation's NewSpace 2012 conference at NASA-Ames July 26-28. Right now the schedule has the panel titled "Approaching the Tipping Point: How Emergent Technologies Will Change the Way We Look at the Future of Spaceflight" at 2pm Saturday the 28th.

Foresight Institute co-founder and Past President Christine Peterson will speak at the Leonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous of August 2012, chaired by Piero Scaruffi. Her talk is scheduled from 8:30-8:55pm and is titled "The Nanocentury: Bringing Digital Control to the Physical World".

Printed Electronics is one of the fastest growing technologies in the world. This event, the World's largest on the topic and growing rapidly every year, is your information and networking hub on the topic. Printed Electronics USA is co-located with the Photovoltaics IDTechEx event.

About the Foresight Institute
Foreseeing Future Technologies

Advancements in technologies such as nanotech, robotics, and biotech are promising to make major differences in our lives in the not-too-distant future, as the Industrial Revolution did to the agrarian world — to do for the physical world what the computer and Internet have done to the world of information.

Since 1986, the Foresight Institute has been in the forefront of a worldwide community of visionaries who work to help shape these possibilities into a positive, beneficial reality.

If you would like to help us understand the potential of these technologies, and influence their direction, please consider becoming a member of the Foresight community. With your support, Foresight will continue to educate the general public on these technologies and what they will mean to our society.

The Foresight Institute is a non-profit, member-supported 501(c)(3) organization. We offer membership levels appropriate to meet the needs and interests of individuals and companies. Donations are tax deductible.

The Foresight Update is emailed monthly to approximately 10,000 subscribers in more than 100 countries throughout the world. If you would like to join our mailing list and receive the Update, go to: https://foresight.org/d/list_signup

To get involved and for further information about Foresight contact our Director of Outreach and Development, Desiree Dudley (desiree@foresight.org or call 650-289-0860 x259) or contact our President, Larry Millstein at lmillstein@foresight.org.